Given the increasing seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic, the MGMS has decided to postpone our scientific meeting to honor the life and work of Dr Frank Blaney, a well-known computational chemist who worked for many years in the pharmaceutical industry.

Frank was a pioneer within the world of molecular modelling, particularly with respect to Drug Discovery. Not only did he contribute greatly to promoting science within academia but also in advancing commercial sectors for Drug Discovery. Frank was actively involved in the development of approaches to model membrane bound proteins such as GPCRs, ion channels and transporters, and the application of these approaches in drug discovery. Frank was a founding member of the Molecular Graphics and Modelling Society (MGMS), and over the years worked in a number of academic and commercial institutions including Oxford University, Queen’s University Belfast, as well as Beecham Pharmaceuticals, GSK and Heptares.

To support postdoctoral and young independent researchers, and to remember MGMS founder member Dr Frank Blaney, the MGMS has established the MGMS Frank Blaney Award (formerly the MGMS Silver Jubilee Award). This is awarded to outstanding young researchers in the field.

It is with great sadness that I am writing to let you know that Andy Vinter passed away yesterday following a heart attack at the end of last week. He was a font of knowledge and a highly respected scientist. He had a long history of involvement with the MGMS: He was the founder member of the Society when it was set up in 1981 and served as the first Chairman and remained on the Committee for several years following. He had many decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry working in various organizations over the years including Beechams, Ciba, Maybridge, Wellcome and SmithKline and French. He was a visiting Professor at University College London and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Throughout Andy’s career, he maintained a strong interest in both molecular recognition and molecular similarity, with a particular focus on how insights could be applied in the drug design area. His interest in electrostatics led to the development of XEDs, an improved empirical approach to representing the molecular electrostatic potentials and how they influenced interactions such as pi stacking. This, in turn, led to the development of novel field based technologies, targeted at viewing molecules in the way that they would be seen by their protein, or other macromolecular, binding sites. With support from the Wellcome Trust, Cresset Biomolecular Discovery was established in 2001 as a vehicle for further development and commercialisation of the software and intellectual property. As scientific founder, and Chief Scientific Officer, he continued his active involvement in the company’s science and ongoing development.

Andy was an inspiration to many people inside and outside the field. Our thoughts are with his wife and children at this very sad time. He will be sorely missed by all of us.

The early bird registration deadline for the 4th Manchester Multiscale Conference is coming soon (30 November 2019). The abstract submission deadline is 30 January 2020. Please see the CCPBioSim website for further details.

The MGMS is pleased to announce our scientific meeting to honor the life and work of Dr Frank Blaney, a well-known computational chemist who worked for many years in the pharmaceutical industry. Frank was a pioneer within the world of molecular modelling, particularly with respect to Drug Discovery. Not only did he contribute greatly to promoting science within academia but also in advancing commercial sectors for Drug Discovery. Frank was actively involved in the development of approaches to model membrane bound proteins such as GPCRs, ion channels and transporters, and the application of these approaches in drug discovery. Frank was a founding member of the Molecular Graphics and Modelling Society (MGMS), and over the years worked in a number of academic and commercial institutions including Oxford University, Queen’s University Belfast, as well as Beecham Pharmaceuticals, GSK and Heptares.

This year, YMF-2019, the MGMS Young Modellers’ Forum 2019, will be held on Friday, 29th November, 2019. It will be held once again at the beautiful University of Greenwich, Queen Ann Court, The Old Naval College, Greenwich, London. Registration is now open!

We are pleased to announce the Australasian chapter of the MGMS, AMMA (the Association of Molecular Modellers of Australasia), is organizing their premier conference on molecular modelling from December 5-8, 2019. It will be held on the beautiful resort island of Bintan (Indonesia), around an hour’s ferry ride from Singapore.

This is the first time that the MM conference is being hosted in Asia, and it will bring together an international audience at all stages of their careers. It will also feature the award lecture by the 2019 winner of the AMMA Medal. Themes of the conference will include: